Hell on Earth
by RC-4681
Summary: Set during the events of ODST. Another ODST survives the drop into New Mombasa, and ends up working with the Rookie. Rated T for language, and lots of neon-colored flying blood. Muahahahahahaha. Ha. I worry for my mental Health sometimes...
1. Chptr 1: Prepare to Drop

**AN: Hey, Peoples of the Fanfic Universe. I do not own Halo, the Rookie, Dare, Buck, Romeo, Mickey, Dutch, the Superintendent, Vergil, The Covenant, the Flood, The UNSC, or anything else Halo-related that I missed. Oh, I also don't own the SPARTAN-II program and all involved in it.**

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ODST 97325-10427KJ strapped into his pod and prepared to drop into New Mombasa. _Those dumbass technicians had better've fixed the Goddamn launching problem on my pod,_ He thought, _Or there'll be hell to pay_. His radio crackled, and the left-hand video screen crackled to life to show his Staff Sergeant's face. "Troopers, we are dropping onto the roof of that Covie Supercarrier! Get ready for a party!" Keith smiled behind his helmet. His Sarge was crazy. They never told him to his face, but he was. There was a dull _fwump_ as the drop pods started launching. Keith waited for when his pod would launch. Adrenaline was flooding his body. Nothing happened, and the ship kept moving forward. "OH MY GOD!" Keith yelled at the roof of the pod. "YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!" He punched the roof, and the pod dropped. He looked down and realized he was gonna miss the carrier. "Goddamn it," he muttered under his breath. The Covie ship crackled, and his stomach jolted as he realized the Covenant was going to make a Slipspace jump _in atmosphere_. The rupture closed and a shockwave expanded over the city, swallowing most of the drop pods. Then the wave hit him, and his pod's electronics died. His pod slammed into a building, and he blacked out.

Keith groggily returned to consciousness with someone pounding his head in with a hammer. Hitting the bolts, he blew off cover of his pod, and climbed out. _I'd hate to get stuck in the side of a building,_ he thought, _That'd be a pain in the ass to get out of_. He rolled his shoulders, grabbed his SMG, and started looking for _anything_ to help him out. He heard a phone ringing off the hook. He looked in the phone's general direction. _Who the hell would call someone in a destroyed city?_ He remembered an emergency briefing before the drop. _Isn't there a Superintendant running the city or something?_ He wandered over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" he spoke into the phone. "Hello, traveler," a mechanical voice replied, "Mombasa welcomes you! Anxious? Stressed? Please remain calm. Control circuits now open-with pride!" Keith frowned at the phone. "What the hell?" His VISR system recorded the rest of the phone call in its Comm segment, and Keith started walking away. He tried to head right, towards ONI Alpha Site, but the Superintendent flashed signs telling him to go left, towards Uplift Reserve. "Don't walk," the Superintendent asked him. He ignored it and continued for the security doors. He entered the controls to open the doors, but they didn't open. "Oh, come on!" he yelled at the doors. "Emergency stop, please remain calm," the Superintendent asked him. "I won't, you lousy piece of shit!" he yelled back at it, "I'm just trying to get to the ONI building to 'regroup with friendly forces and/or discover their' goddamn 'current location'!" the control panel flashed the words: KEEP IT CLEAN. "SCREW YOU!" Keith yelled at the panel. He about-faced and walked towards Uplift Reserve, muttering under his breath about malfunctions and tearing apart the local AI wire from wire.

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**AN: I don't know how half the stuff I pu in my disclaimer even applies to my story...**

**Anyway, please review...**

**Constructive criticism is appreciated.**


	2. Chptr 2: Uplift Reserve

**AN: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.**

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Keith reached Uplift Reserve and looked around. Nothing. No one. Not a soul in sight. However, he had recovered a number of some sort of audio files as he came, and had learned the Superintendent was also called "Vergil". "Well, I'm here, you dumb AI," he muttered, "Now what the hell is _so _important?" "Please remain calm," the Superintendent replied, "An officer will be with you shortly to discuss the problem." Keith shook his head. His motion tracker picked up a contact. Red. He whirled around, raising his M7S Caseless Submachine gun to his shoulder. A pack of Grunts waddled into view, and Keith flattened himself against the wall. They hadn't seen him. Yet.

The six grunts weren't concerned at all. The city had been cleared of Humans, and they had a Brute with them. So when two went down, one with a hole in his head, and another with a breached methane tank, and no eye, they ran squealing back to the Brute. He turned the Grunts around and they all marched back to the spot. Two more died from headshots, and the Brute started firing into the darkness.

Keith hissed in pain as the Spiker round penetrated his shoulder. The Brute growled something to the two remaining Grunts, and the three aliens moved towards his position. He sighted up, and killed the remaining two Grunts with headshots. He then reattached the M6C/SOCOM sidearm to the magnetic "holster" on his leg and drew his SMG. The Brute charged Keith, yelling. He opened fire, being careful to aim more towards the Brute's stomach. The alien's shield grew brighter as it stopped the lead rounds, and then collapsed, along with the Brute's armor, right towards the end of the clip. The brute stopped, stunned, and Keith ran towards it. It roared at him in fury. Keith shoved the barrel in its open maw, and emptied the rest of the clip into the oversized gorilla's head.

The Rookie inched forward, cautious. He'd barely heard gunfire and definitely heard a Brute. Maybe it was another member of his squad, but he wasn't sure. As he moved, his boot struck a metal beam he failed to see.

Keith heard the clang, and leaped behind the monument in the middle of the plaza. Heart pounding, he reloaded his empty SMG, and peered around the corner. A human-sized figure stepped around the corner, and Keith almost opened fire on it. "Emergency stop," the Superintendent said, "Please remain calm." The figure lowered his SMG at the announcement from a local PA system. Keith didn't. "Hey, Vergil," he whispered, "who is that?" "An officer will be with you shortly to discuss the problem." Keith lowered his gun. "Hey!" he called to the figure, "Hey, you! You NMPD?" The figure shook its head and walked closer. When it got closer, Keith saw it was another ODST. He sighed. "Oh, thank God. I'm not the only person left in this place." The unknown ODST chuckled softly. He turned and started looking for something. Keith followed him at a distance, covering their backs. The unknown ODST kneeled by an optical package from a drone. "What's this got? Why is it important?" Keith asked. The ODST just shook his head. At least, Keith thought it was a guy. He couldn't tell from behind the helmet. After a minute, the ODST sighed, removed his helmet, and ran his hand through his hair. He sighed, and then offered his hand to Keith. "I'm Keith; my friends call me Cuss, though." The ODST nodded. Keith's FOF identifier identified the ODST as a Lance Corporal, like himself, but no name. Just a nickname. "Rookie".

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**AN: OK, I know that the Rookie didn't take his helmet off in the game, but this is MY story, and it's already kinda AU just by Keith surviving the drop. So go cry to your mommy. Or daddy. Or guardian.**

**No flames please, or The Chief will pull you inside out by your... Yeah. And that'll be sweet, sweet mercy compared to what _Sgt. Johnson_ will do to you.**


End file.
